Pretest will help you out in the planning and distribution of the information, that pertains to your class. It will also give you an idea abought were the student or students are at.If pretest are given properly the are a very useful tool in road map to a successful class.
Earl,
Good point. This is an example where sorting out where prior knowledge exists (or doesn't).
Barry Westling
pretest can be very important in the beginning of class. you as an instructor evaluate your students and prepare yourself with their level of knowledge.
Using a pretest is very useful, the pretest gives you a sense of what the student knows. This knowledge will let you know where the students are weak. this will also help to take what the student knows and apply it to the new information you are about to introduce.
In my opinion, I believe it is best to know what areas the students are struggling in to better assist them.
I agree pretest level the playing field. Teaching in a technical school there are classes that are similar. If a student had a similar class prior to my class they tend to tune me out. The pretest shows the knowledge level and can possibly calm down egos.
Heather,
I tweak my courses nearly every time. Many times, a brief pretest does give me some idea of the level my class is performing at.
Barry Westling
It gives instructors better understanding of where each student is. So you can better plan how and where to start your instruction in your courses.
Brandi,
Yeah, I call this "student speak", a phenomenon where some students seem to understand an explanation better from one of their own peers.
Barry Westling
Pretests are a great way to determine the educational level of your students. If the pretests show that your students are at a low learning level, then the lesson plans can be developed to be delivered into smaller, more manageable segments for the students. If there are a variety of learning levels in the class, one way to help the slower learners is to pair them up with the quicker learners. It has been my experience that sometimes the struggling students retain more when learning from their peers versus their instructor. This is often because their peers are able to deliver the material on a level that the slower learner understands.
Lisa,
Another version of this assumption is the admission test. Some students score very high but have a much lower application skill or prior knowledge, leading to more challenges by both instructor and students alike.
Barry Westling
Kevina,
I think prior knowlege of student performance level assists instructors fine tune their lesson plans.
Barry Westling
using as pretest works wonderful. I use it for couple of reasons. I use it to assess how the students are when it comes to the knowledge base they have from other similar classes.
It is especially important to use a pretest when teaching an upper level course that has prerequisites. I have had the experience of assuming certain materials "must have been" covered in the lower level prerequisite only to learn (through very frustrated students) that they couldn't understand the new material at all.
Raymond ,
You already know the benefits that pretesting can provide.
Barry Westling
I personaly use pre tests all the time. it helps me know how much the students retained from that particular chapter and also where the problem areas are, so that i as an instructor can make changes in my delevery of that subject matter and also aid me in future classes, to better teach a perticular area of importance. The student does benifit from the pre test also,as a gret study guide to be able to look back on.
Laura,
This is one of the main benefits of pretesting. Any information pertaining to students prior learning should assist instructors in their planning course work and content specific assignments.
Barry Westling
Reinforcing the subject matter. Helps testing the knowledge
There is a section of one of my courses that involves math and this section of content is always frustrating for a majority of the students (and the instructor)! A large part of the frustration is related to the fact that the students have such a varied level of skills in math. I think a pre-test would help me figure out how basic the instruction needs to be for a majority of the class. The pre-test would allow for better planning and preparation.
Debra ,
Yeah, usually an effective self assessment revelation for students!
Barry Westling
